Illuminating device



J. F. SEITZ ILLUMINATING DEVICE Filed Jan. 18. 1927 2 Sheets-S1199; 1

Dec. 1, 1931. l J RSEITZ 1,834,428

- ILLUMINATING DEVICE Filed Jan. l. 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 these high Patented Dec. 1, 1931 Jo nt. n.

li nniviiim'rme DEVICE;

My invention is an illuminating device and method: of lighting particularly adapted for the moving picture use in photography and 21ft. I i l r 1 The illumination of scenes, settings and people, in 1 photography, motionpictures, is at present'expeiisive, wasteful and notentirely satisfactory. 1

To a great extent ai'c' lights of great intensity are employeell These are not wholly satis ,rctory as they require the constant at tention of skilled electricians to service the l illumination for photographic purposes utitransmission lines, lamps, and other speeia equipment required tooperate- Furthermore to secure the proper resistance to make the arc, resistance grids are employed wl'iich consume from thirtylto forty percent of the current passing through them. ln'the use of incandescentlamps, theseresistance grids are unnecessary. f i e ilevcral attempts have been made toiise incandescent lamps of high Wattage in the taking of motion pictures, some lamps of ten l'riloivatts having been constructedtbut powered incandescent lamps are:

very expensive andtheir eliicient'life is very short. Fiii-t-lierniore these extremely large incandescent lamps radiate a very obj ectionahle amount oth'eat'. 1 I; propose to for the taking oiphotographs or. motion mini-es for proifessional or amateur use that at once cfiicicnt, economical and so simple t anyone can operate it.

I propose one ormore concave specialirefl ectors of the desired propertions and focalilength, mounted on a suitable stand; the reflectors-being one reflectir being positioned spot light while the otheris posi tioned to-give a ilood'light; A serious obiection to the employed in still 'Iandfmoti'onpicture pho tography is settog'ether as a unit, the reflector being-in a fixed position behind the lamp, so that some 'imag e'ef eitherthefilamentor arc is thrown a la r ze area,

and particularly.

construct an illuminating de-- 7 through the lamp.

to Construct an illuminating-dc.- v vice comprising an incandescent lamp and to anyposition desired'to. either focus orspot 'tlie liglit or to difiuse it over ployed I v teurs. present lamps- 'tiirswithout:

that the reflectors-11d lamp are *caibles,,et1c.

on the scenebeing photographed, causing a shadow or darkspot, excepting; in the case of spot lights using a' positions-of focusing throws an image.

One of the obi ects ofmy invention is to so arrange the reflector or rcflectorsinsuch relationtothe lamp-that no shadow orimage ofithe lamp or filament will be thrown on the sceneorpeople, also that a relatively-large proportion; of the light radiated from the-- lamp maybe e-fi'ec-tively itilized; 1

My invention also comprises a method et- 7 lizing; incandescent lamps. I; prefer incandescent lamps, as the light; from same has different photographicqualities from are Thus, using an incane light, I reflect, the'li'ghtby one or more reflectors on the scene or act to bephotographeminsuchmane nerethat none of the reflected light passes through the lamp, and hence, there is no image-or shadow ofthe lamp formed on the scene or act. t p VlIit-h my method, by/use eta. single incandescentala-mp, reflecting the light therefrom so that the scene maybeilluminated by a flood light and also, distinct therefrom, par-e ticular parts of'the scene or act may be 11- in theserethe; reflection passesluininated by a spotlighhand fieeted lights none of This-illuminating devicethroughthe slim, ination of the special equipment: heretofore required for motion picture; illumination, re-

moving the necessity of employing skilled A electricians .to operate and. maintain the lamps, greatly m sums P TENT OFFICE? I SEITZ, f ori ionmcwooni CALIFORNIA lens which in some reduces illuminatingcostsand' at thesame'timeis so simple as to beeasily 90 employed not only lllfitlldlt) workby professional photographers for takingscenes in the home by may In tact, one of the, objects of the pres} to supply ior ent-invention is ment: of illumination With this invention, house wiring 1 ever:currentis-neededr an'efiective instr itaking, motion fpic- 1 the need for special. apparatus, .7 ordinary is quite'ampletosupplyzwhat biit-ycan also be em My invention wil be more readily understood from the following description and drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of one of my illuminating devices showing the illumination of a conventional scene.

Figure 2. is a side elevation of such an illuminating device.

Figure 3 is a plan view.

Figure 4 is a detail, in vertical section through an ad ustable supportgshowlng the manner of mounting the reflectors. v

Figure 5 is elevation of a modified form of illuminating device in which I use what may be termed a spot light reflector and a flood light reflector, to be used either one at a time or both together.

Figure 6 is a plan of Fig. 5.

Referring to the drawings, a suitable stand 1 is arranged with a base 2, this preferably having caster wheels so that it may be readily moved in any direction. The stand has a tubular standart 3 in which a post 4 is adjustably or telescopically mounted, this being held at various elevations by means of the clamp screw 5. At the top of the post or in any suitable position on the post a head 6 is sccuredand this head has a lamp arm 7, either rigidly secured or adjustably attached there i to. A lamp holder 8 has a sleeve 9 slidably mounted on the arm 7 with a clamp screw 10 to secure it in any adjusted position. The holder also has a stem 11 which is adjustable in the'fitting 12, giving a telescopic connection, there being a clamp screw 18 to hold the stem and fitting in the relatively desired position. The lamp 1 1 s secured in a suitable socket 15 in the ordinary manner. The lamp cable 16 is suitably connected with the socket and leads to any desired source of power.

A series of horizontal arms 17 are connected by means of vertical pivots 18 to the head 6 so that these arms may be swung into different radial positions in reference to the standard. Each of the arms has one or more reflector holders 19 secured thereon, each of these holders preferably having a sleeve section 20 which may be clamped to the arm by means of a clamp screw 21. The holders have a socket, portion 22 in which a rod 23 may slide, this rod being clamped by a clamp screw 24. A short bracket 25 is pivotally connected to the upper end of each rod 23 to swivel at right angles to the rod, the bracket being clamped by a lock nut 26 or the equivalent; Each of the brackets a reflector 27 An adjustable bracket 32 attached thereto, the reflectors illustrated being of sphericalconstruction, having a mirrored glass 28 with a metal backing 29.

' It also desirable to have one or more vertical arms 80 mounted on the head 6 by horizontal pivots 31 so that thesearms may be swung upwardly into a vertical direction'and clamped by clamping nuts on the pivots 31. 15 secured on each of the vertical arms, this having a tubular section 33 with a clamp screw 34 and reflectors, similar to those above described and as illustrated in Fig. 4, are pivotally connected to the brackets 32 and clampable in the manner above described.

The manner of adjusting and using my illuminating device for photographic purposes is substantially as follows:

The stand may be located in any suitable position in reference to the set to be illuminated and in proper relation to the camera. The light is lit and the various horizontal and vertical arms are adjusted in relation to the light, the reflectors also being adjusted to project the light in any manner desired. Care can be exercised so that none of the reflectors will project light through the lamp itself onto the set, thus usually there would be no reflector immediately behind the lamp unless this reflectorprojected the light in such a direction that it would not pass through the lamp bulb. It will be seen from the perspective view of Fig. 1 that the light may readily be diifused to illuminate the whole set and it is also obvious that by proper adjustment of the reflectors the light may be concentrated on any portion ofthe set or on any particular actor who may be in the scene. It is to be understood that one or more of the illuminating devices may be utilized to obtain the proper intensity of light for photographic purposes. It is understood that particularly in taking motion pictures that a high degree of light intensity is required to take proper photographs on account of the shortness of the exposure.

In the construction illustrated in Figs. 5 and G, the telescopic stand 1 is substantially the same as that shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, but in this case I prefer to provide the top of the post 4 with a bracket-4O to which an arm 41 is pivotally connected and arranged to clamp in any desired position. This arm may, therefore, swing in different vertical planes. A sliding sleeve 42 is adjustably mounted on the arm and a spot li ht reflector is pivotally connected to the sleeve, preferably by astem 44- which may be clamped in different positions in relation to the sleeve. his reflector preferably of relatively large size in diameter and I find a reflector of thirty-six inches (86 ins.) diameter may be satisfactorily. utilized. This may be of any suitable curvature and is designed to give a spot light. It will be seen that the light reflected from the lamp 14L does not have a path through the lamp, therefore there is no shadow formed of the lamp or the filament.

The flood light arrangement is substantially as follows:

An arm 45 is preferably connected to collars 4.6 which maybeclamped in any suitable manner and which may rotate on the top as illustrated in Figsl. through 4. This 'isfactory results and the photography to be carried the lamp.

of the post 4 and thus be positioned in any desired relation to' the arm carrying the lamp. The, flood light 47 is preferably mounted on the-arm'45 insubstantially the same manner light is preferably a curvedreflector andis usually of less diameter than the spot light reflector I find that a reflector, about twelve inches ('12 ins.) in diameter gives satwhen properly positionedin regard .to the lamp 1 L will diifuse the-light over a considerablearea with sufflcient intensity for photographicpurposes.

The: arm 48 for supporting the lamp has a collar 49 which fits on the top of the post 4 and allows the arm to swing in a circle 1n a horizontal plane. This arm may be clamped inany suitable manner when the arm dais clamped.

From the above description it Wlll beseen that with two reflectors, one designed to give a spot light and the other'to give a flood light, that I may secure satisfactory lighting for a great deal ofmotion picture photography and avoid the objectionable features of hav-' ing shadows of the filament or images of the lamp cast on the scene being photographed.

From the above description it will be seen that I. have invented a method of illumination forphotographic purposes, particularly for taking motion pictures, in casting light fronran incandescent filament or lamp in such-a manner that noshadow or image of the filament or lamp is thrown on the set or actors being photographed, and moreover my method comprises cross focusing the different segments-of light from the lamp to obtain either concentrated or diffused illumination.

One of the main features of my method of illumination is the use of the incandescent lamp and having suitable reflectors which may illuminate the general scene with a flood light and a particular portion of the scene or act with a spotlight; thus enabling on without the objectionable features of arc lights or of the'high-powered incandescent lamps which,

as above mentioned, areof short life, very expensive, and radiate an objectionable amount of heat.

here, in the specification and claims, I state that none of the reflected light passes through the lamp, Iintend by this that none of it passes through the source of light in On account of some incandescent lamps being made with large glass bulbs, it is immaterial if some of the reflected light passes through the glass of the bulb forming part of the lamp, and this light illumi-- nates the set or act to be photographed without casting any image or shadow Various mod'fica'tions Or my apparatus and method of uslng my lighting system will be apparent.

Various changes may be made in the prinflood stand having a head to move ma horizontal plane,

ciples of my invention without departing from the spirit thereof, as set forth in the description, drawings and claims.

I claim: 1. An illuminating device comprising a an arm extending from the head, a. lamp holder adjustably mounted thereon, having an. incandescent lamp therein, an arm pivotally connected to the head to swing in a vertical plane, means to clamp the latter arm, and a reflector having means to adj ustably mount same on the said latter arm to reflect the light from the lamp.

2. An illuminating device comprising in combination a stand having telescopic members to slide in a vertical direction, a lamp arm having means connecting same to one reflected passes through. the lamp.

3. Anillumlnating device comprising in combination an adjustable stand having a lamp arm connected to the stand, having an incandescent lamp adjustably mounted thereon, a plurality of arms pivotally connected to the stand and having means to clamp the arms. in an adjusted position, re-

I flectorholders having reflectors on the arms,

said holders being slidable on the arms and having socket portions with rods slidable therein, said rods and sockets having clamping means, and brackets connected to the rods and secured to the reflectors, the said brackets being adjustable in reference to the rods, said stand, lamp, arms and reflector being adjustable whereby none of the light reflected passes through the lamp.

' 4:. An illuminating device for illuminating a scene or set to be photographed comprising in combination a vertical stand, a lamp-supporting arm extending radially outwardly therefrom and having an incandescent lamp adjustably mounted thereon, a plurality of radial arms pivotally connected to the stand to swing in horizontal planes and each having a reflector adjustably mounted thereon,

the said lamp and'reflectors being movable to reflect light on thescene or set, whereby none of the reflected light passes through the filament of the said lamp. l

5. An illuminating device for illuminating a scene or set to be photographed comprising in combination. a vertical stand, a lamp-supporting arm extending radially outwardly licing movable t0 reflect light on the scene or set, whereby none of the reflected li ht passes throu h the filament of the said lamp.

6. an illuminating device for illuminatin a scene or set to be photographed ccmprisin in combination a vertical stand having a lamp-supporting arm extending radially therefrom, a plurality of retlector-supporting arms pivotally connected to the stand to extend outwardly there rom in any radial direction, means to clamp each of said arms in a desired position, 1 incandescent lamp mounted on the lamp-supnorting arm, a reflector mounted on each or the lainp-su tiportiug arn a least one of said reflectors having the char. 'istic of pr fecting a concentrated spot ht on the scene or set, other of the reflectors having the characteristic oi projecting a dillueed floodlight on the scene or said lamp and reflectors being positionable whereby none or the light reflected onto the scene or set passes thrcugn filament of the lamp.

7. An illuminating device for illuminating a scene or set to be photographed comprising in combination a vertical stand, a lamp-supporting arm extending radially outwardly therefrom, a plurality of reflector-supporting arms having a p'votal connection to the stand to swing in h rizon'l'al planes, a refleclly connected to tor-supporting arm pivot-a the stand to swing in a vertical plane, an incandescent lamp mounted on the lampsupporting arm, reflectors adjnstably mounted on the reflector supporting anns, at least one of said reflectors having the characteristic of projecting a concentrated spotlight on the scene or set and other of the reflectors havingthe characteristic of projecting a diffused floodlight, the lamp and reflectors being positionable whereby none of the reflectedlight passes through the filament of the lamp.

8. An illuminating device for illuminating a scene or setto be photographed comprising a stan d, means moan an incandescent lamp thereon, aplural ty of reflector-supporting arms pivotally connected to the stand to swing 'n horizontal pla; es, a reflector-supporting arm pivotally connected to the stand to swing in a vertical plane, and reflectors adjustably mounted on l arms, said reflectors and lamp being positionable whereby none of the reflected light rem thereflectors passes through the filament of the lamp onto the scene or set.

9. An illuminating device comprising in combination a stand, means to support an incandescent lamp from said stand, an arm connected to the stand, said arm having an angular movement'in relation thereto, and a reflector having a rectilinear adjustment on said arm, said reflector being positionable in reference to the lamp, whereby none of the reflected light passes through the filament of the lamp.

10. An illuminating device comprising in combination a supporting structure having a first arm connected thereto, an incandescent lamp having a rectilinear adjustment thereon, a second. arm having an angular movement in reference to the stand, a reflector havin rectilinear adjustment on said second C arm, wl" ereby none of the reflected light from reflected light passes through the filament of the lamp.

11. An illuminating device comprising in combination a stand, an incandescent lamp supported from said stand a plurality of arms having angular adjustment in diflerent planes relative to the stand, a. reflector on each of said arms having rectilinear adjustment thereon, said reflectors being positionable whereby none of the reflected light passes through the filament of the lamp.

12. A11 illuminating device comprising in combination a stand, a first arm connected thereto and having angular adjustment, an incandescent lamp rectilinearly adjustable from said arm, a plurality of arms pivotally connected to the stand having angular movem nt in a plurality of planes and a lamp rectilinearly adjustable on said latter arms whereby none of said reflected light passes through the filament of the lamp.

13. An illuminating device comprising in combination a stand, means to support an incandescent lamp from the stand, a plurality or" arms having angular adjustment relative to the stand in a plurality of different planes, a reflector holder having rectilinear adjustment on each of said arms and a reflector angularly adjustable in each of said holders, whereby none of the reflected light passes through the filament of the lamp.

14. An illuminating device comprising in combination a vertical stand having a head at the top thereof, means to support an incandescentlamp filament within a glass globe from the stand, plurality of arms pivotally connected to the head and radiating therefrom to swing in a common horizontal plane independently one of the other, and mirrors adjustably mounted on saio arms to reflect the light of the incandescent filament;

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

JOHN F. SEITZ. 

